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The 78.1 km long 760 mm gauge line from Unzmarkt on the Bruck a.d. Mur - Klagenfurt route to the mediaeval fortress town of Mautendorf was opened on 8th October 1894, the first sod having been cut at Murau on 27th August the previous year. The line arose from the need to take finished products from mines, smelters and forges in the Mur valley out to the rest of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and to bring in supplies to a relatively poor area of Steiermark. Previous schemes, including a 3.5 million Guilder scheme put forward by Stern und Hafferl to link Mautendorf and Tamsweg to the monastery town of St. Lambracht, all foundered because of lack of capital. Even though it was built to narrow gauge, the line still had three tunnels, crossed the Mur River four times and had over 150 road crossings, mainly minor tracks. The line was operated by the k.k. Österreich Staatsbahnen as the Murtalbahn until being taken over by the local authority from 01 July 1921.

The railway tested three Austro-Daimler single unit railcars between 1933 and 1939, when they were removed. All services were in the hands of "U" class steam locos ("U" signifying Unzmarkt) until 1964 when the local authority's transport division, Steiermarkische Landesbahnen (StLB) ordered a Bo-Bo diesel from ÖMAG - later VL 11. This was followed by three more diesels, which then ran the freight, and some passenger workings. The section of line between Tamsweg and Mautendorf had severe competition from road transport taking a much shorter route, and passenger service s ceased from 23 March 1973. When the line was upgraded in 1980 the decision was taken to close this section of line. Closure north of km 65.5 was effected from 1 September 1981, the last 1.2 km being a siding north of Tamsweg bhf., for the use of the Murtal brewery. The section of line onwards was subsequently reopened as the Taurachbahn, and occasional through trains are run.

StLB invested heavily in the line, ordering new diesel multiple units with a top speed of 80 km/h, completely renewing the track and some bridges, including the curved viaduct over the Mur at Madlingbrücke. They also bought new goods wagons and a post van. Services, which had been in decline, revived sharply, and more diesel units and trailers were ordered. The headquarters of the line are at Murau, opposite the main station, Stozalpe. Here, also, are the main railway workshops, carriage sheds, locomotive servicing and stabling facilities, as well as the train management service. The line does not have signals, but uses a system of radio control based on the radio system pioneered by the British Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway.

The parent company's own website, offers steam train service in the Summer and an amateur driving train, sometimes using one of the original engines built for the line in 1894.